Apparatus for removing boots and shoes from lasts



C. E. ROWE Dec. 5, 1933.

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING BOOTS AND SHOES FROM LASTS Filed Jan. 11 1932 C .5 F0 W15 Arr) V 6. H5 5 Fay] Patented Dec. 5, 1933 APPARATUS FOR REMOVINGBOOTS AND SHOES FROMLASTS Charles Edward Rowe, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, assignor of one-fourth to Robert Andrew Graham andone-fourth to James "Irving Graham, both of Ballarat Victoria, Australia Application January 11, 1932; Serial no. 586,022,

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and in Australia August 19, 1931 12 Claims.

upon which it is built up. The invention may 5 also be applied if so desired to the operation of re-fitting the boot or shoe to the last for subsequent treatment.

Hitherto such operations of removing the built up boots or shoes from their lasts have usually been efiected by hand, the toe of the shoe being pressed. against the breast of the operator whilst the heel portion is pulled upwardly over the last. This hand operation calls for considerableeiiort and discomfort on the part of the operator and entails excessive expense in time and labor.

Devices have been proposed to perform mechanically the operations referred to, but such devices have proved only partially satisfactory.

The object of the present invention is-to pro- Q vide improved apparatus of simple and inexpensive construction which may be easily operated by relatively unskilled labor and greatly facilitates the operations referred to. a

Referring to the drawing which forms part of this specification- Figure l is apart sectional side elevation of an apparatus or machine in accordance with the invention and showing a shoe removing attachment about to engage the heel portion of a shoe 0. upper on the last.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary View partly in section illustrating the shoe removing attachment in action and the shoe'partly removed from the last.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary View showing a boot removing attachment applied to the machine and indicating the manner in which such attachment is used to stretch the rear part or" the boot upper outwardly preparatory to forcing the boot up wardly over the last.

Figure 4 is another fragmentary View of the arrangement shown in Figure 3 indicating the relative position of the parts when the boot is partly removed from the last.

Figure 5 is a plan of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the shoe removing attachment seen inFigures 1 and 2.

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper end portion of the attachment seen in Figure 6. 1

Figure 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the boot removing attachment or hand lever seen in Figures 3 and 4i v i Figure 9 is a cross section of the upper portion of the attachment or lever shown in Figure 8.

Figure 10 illustrates how the machine may be used for re-applying boots or shoes-to their lasts. Apparatus in accordance with the invention includes a stand or pedestalpreferably comprising a base 2 and a tubular standard 3 into the open upper end of which is fitted ashank 4 which may be secured to the standard 3 by means of a bolt rthe likepassing therethrough andserving also todetachably securea tool tray '7 to said standard. a Held by a set screw 8 within a recess 9 at the top of theshank 4 is a pin 11 onto which the last 12 maybe removablyfitted'in aninverted position as shown.

Passing through opposite verticalslots 13, 13a in the standard 3 is an arm 14 which is pivoted at 16; to the standard. As seen inFigure 1 this armmay normally engage the ends ofthe slots 13, 13a so that these ends act as stops to limit the downward movement of the arm 14 about its pivot 16.

Formed in the lower part of the standard Bare opposite vertical slots '17, 17:; through which passes afoot lever 18' which is intermediately pivoted at 19 to the standard and may normally engage the ends of the slots 17, 17a as se en in Figure 1. One endpf this foot lever is provided with'a treadle portion 20 and its other end is pivoted at 21 to the lower end ofa link 22,-the upper endof which is pivoted at 23 to the arm 14. J The outer or rear end portionof the arm 14.- may be bent back upon itself as indicated at-24 in Figures 1 and 6 to freely accommodate a push rod '26 which is provided with adjusting holes'27 to receive a removable pivot pin 28 wherebythe rod 26 is adjustably pivoted to the outer end portion of the arm' 14.

Secured to the upper end of the push rod 26 is a bearing bracket 29 carrying a removable p'ivot pin 31 by which a shoe removing attachment or a boot removing attachment may be detachably pivoted to the bracket 29 as hereinafter described.

The" shoe removing attachment which is illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 6 and7, consists of a'pawl litre member 32having an intermediate pivot pin hole 33 to receive the pivot 31. The front face of this pawl-like member is longitudinally-curved as at 34 to conform substantially to the curvature in a vertical plane of the rear heel surface Beat the last 12*. The upper end of the pawl-like mem f ber 32 is provided with a head 37 having a rel a tively thin upper edge or nose indicatedat 38 which may be formed by a transverse groove or H0 recess 39 in the upper face of the head 37. In addition to its longitudinal curvature the front face of the head 3'7 is transversely curved in concave form as indicated at 41 to conform substantially to the transverse curvature of the last surface 36.

The boot removing attachment which is shown in Figures 3, 4 and 8 is in the form of a short hand lever 42 having an intermediate rearwardly projecting lug 43 provided with a hole to receive the removable pivot pin 31 whereby the attachment is connected to the bracket 29. The lower portion of this hand lever forms a handle or finger grip 44 whilst the upper portion 45 of the lever is provided with a longitudinally curved front face 46 adapted to conform substantially to the curvature upwardly, or in a vertical plane, of the last heel surface 36; This upper front face of the hand lever 42 is also curved transversely in concave form as indicated at 47 in Figures 8 and 9.

In operation the last carrying the boot or shoe is attached in an inverted position to the pin'll, and, if a shoe is to be removed from the last the pawl-like attachment 32 is pivoted to the bracket 29 on the push rod 26. The relatively thin upper edge or nose 38 of the member 32 is then entered beneath the edge of the heel portion of the shoe upper 48 and the treadle 20 is depressed causing the shoe to be forced upwardly over the last as indicated in Figure 2. It will be here noted that owing to the pivotal mounting of the member 32 and the curvature of its front face, this member will engage and automatically follow the curvature of the rear surface 36 of the last as the pawllike member moves upwardly with the shoe which is thus slipped over the last without liability of the pawl-like member catching against or damaging the shoe or the last.

In removing a boot from its last, which is usually a more difficult operation than that of removing a shoe, the hand lever attachment 42 is pivoted to the bracket 29 in place of the member 32 and the upper portion 45 of this lever is entered into the boot upper. By the operator pulling the handle 44 forwardly and thus causing the upper portion 45 to move rearwardly as indicated by the arrows in Figure 3, the rear part of the boot upper is stretched or forced rearwardly as indicated in broken lines in Figure 3 so that it will clear the heel portion of the last as the boot is pushed off the latter. Whilst still holding the handle 44, the treadle 20 is operated causing the lever 42 to move upwardly, therebyvforcing the boot up over the last. It will be evident that the curved front face of the upper portion 45 of the hand lever will follow the rear contour of the last in a similar manner to that described with reference to the pawl-like member 32 and that as the hand lever 42 moves upwardly in engagement with the last and the boot is partially removed, the operators grip on the handle 44 may be released, and the upward movement of the lever will complete the boot removing operation.

The adjusting holes 27 in the push rod 26 en able the latter to be raised or lowered in relation to the arm 14 to suit requirements and to conveniently arrange the upper end of the push rod for use with the attachments 32 or 42 as the case may be.

As seen in Figure 10, the invention may be utilized also for the purpose of re-applying a boot or shoe to its last. To this end a shoe horn or like attachment 50 may be connected by a strap or other suitable connection 51 to the front portion of the foot lever 18 so that by entering the attachment 50 between the heel portion of the boot or shoe upper and the last and depressing the treadle 20 so as to exert a downward pull on the connection 51, the grip of the shoe horn or the like 50 upon the shoe will cause the latter to be pulled downwardly over the last.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. In apparatus for the purpose indicated the combination of a pedestal or support adapted to hold a boot or shoe last in an inverted position, a push rod associated with said support, a member for directly cooperating with and removing the boot or shoe, said member being pivotally connected to the upper end of said rod and means for operating said rod whereby the latter is forced upwardly with said pivoted member whilst the latter engages and forces the rear or heel portion of a boot or shoe upper from the last mounted on said support.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said pivoted boot or shoe removing member is adapted to follow the upward curvature of the rear surface of the last as the said pivoted member is forced upwardly in engagement with said surface.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pivoted member has a front face which is longitudinally curved to conform substantially to the curvature of the rear surfaceof the last for the purpose specified.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pivoted member has a front face which is longitudinally curved to conform substantially to the curvature of the rear surface of the last, said longitudinally curved front face being also curved transversely in concave formation for the purpose specified.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pivoted member consists of a pawl-like attachment adapted to be intermediately pivoted to said push rod, said attachment having a relatively thin upper edge or nose for the purpose specified.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pivoted member consists of a pawl-like attachment adapted to be intermediately pivoted to said push rod, said pawl-like member being provided at its upper end with a head having a relatively thin upper edge or nose and a transversely curved front face substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the said pivoted member consists of a hand lever adapted for pivotal connection to said push rod, the lower portion of said hand lever forming a handle or finger grip whilst the upper portion thereof is adapted to enter and engage the rear part of a boot upper for the purpose specified.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pivoted member consists of a hand lever adapted for pivotal connection to said push rod, the upper portion of said hand lever being provided with a longitudinally curved front face adapted to conform substantially to the upward curvature of the rear surface of the last, whilst the lower portion of said hand lever forms a handle or finger grip for the purpose specified.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pivoted member consists of a hand lever adapted for pivotal connection to said push rod, the upper portion of said hand lever being provided with a longitudinally curved front face adapted to conform substantially to the upward curvature of 12. In apparatus for removing boots or shoes from their lasts, an inverted last for receiving a boot upper, a standard ,forsupporting the last, and a pivotally mounted member consisting of an intermediately pivoted hand lever carried by, the standard, the lower portion of which forms a handle or finger grip, whilst the upper portion of said lever is provided with a curved front face and is adapted to enter the rear portion of a boot upper on an inverted last for the purpose specified.

CHARLES EDWARD ROWE.

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